Evaluation of an anthropometric shape model of the human scalp

• The human head shape can be predicted using a statistical shape model.
• Anthropometric measurements can be used as intuitive parameters for shape models.
• At least 90 scans are required to build a representative shape model.
• Measurement errors for the arc length have the least effect on the prediction.
• Shape models have applications for research and for industrial design.

This paper presents the evaluation a 3D shape model of the human head. A statistical shape model of the head is created from a set of 100 MRI scans. The ability of the shape model to predict new head shapes is evaluated by considering the prediction error distributions. The effect of using intuitive anthropometric measurements as parameters is examined and the sensitivity to measurement errors is determined. Using all anthropometric measurements, the average prediction error is 1.60 ± 0.36 mm, which shows the feasibility of the new parameters. The most sensitive measurement is the ear height, the least sensitive is the arc length. Finally, two applications of the anthropometric shape model are considered: the study of the male and female population and the design of a brain-computer interface headset. The results show that an anthropometric shape model can be a valuable tool for both research and design.